I just returned from a trip to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. This trip has been on my bucket list and on my vision boards for a while – so to see it actually happen was incredible – for myself, my husband and my three kids!

From the moment I set foot at Disney I could not help but see and pull many business and marketing lessons from my experience there. I think being out of my everyday business opened my eyes to what others are doing, and this is what I learned:

The Importance of the Little Things

Because we stayed on the resort, each member of my family received something called a magic band. These bracelets contained everything we needed to eat, get into our rooms, etc. I did not need to carry a room key or wallet – it was great, but was even better was that each bracelet was personalized with our names.

This simple touch meant a lot and blew me away. It made me realize that something as simple as using someone’s first name or remembering their birthday can really help grow a relationship – and it doesn’t take much time to do or cost much money!

Small things can make a huge impact on clients!

When someone is into you – they can be really into you

Once someone believes in you, your work or your product they won’t care as much about the cost. At Disney, for example, lineups are not such a big deal because everyone there is so enamoured with the Disney experience that they don’t either care or notice that they are waiting two hours in a lineup to meet a character or a ride a rollercoaster.

This also falls true in your business, the clients who keep buying or investing in you need to be nurtured and recognized. Keep building those relationships and clients will increasingly trust you and your brand, and will invest more time and money into you or your product.

Make sure you give people opportunity to buy

While at Disney, I was given a plethora of opportunity to buy anything Disney – hats, balloons, stuffed animals, etc. No one was in my face asking me if I wanted to buy something, but the products were everywhere I looked. Walking down the streets, at the restaurants and even on the hundreds of super fans wearing the BB8 ears. There was Disney memorabilia everywhere I looked – and seeing BB8 ears everywhere made me HAVE to have a set of my own!

Never forget to give your clients the opportunity to buy from you. You don’t need to be in their face, but make sure what you sell is obvious on your social channels and on your website and give people many opportunities to buy. Given enough opportunity and people will buy from you.

Everyone does things differently

My Disney experience was different from a lot of other people’s experience. We weren’t up at the crack of dawn every morning to get in line for rides and we didn’t stay up to watch any of the firework shows at night, and we didn’t watch any of the parades… but we still had the time of our lives! We didn’t feel overwhelmed and although we were tired, it was a good tired. We found a balance and didn’t try to put every single Disney experience into our days.

We had the Disney experience that we wanted and needed to have and I think this falls true for business as well. For some business owners, working 80 hours a week every week makes them happy, but for others working a regular eight-hour day is enough to make them happy – and both are okay. We all have hopes, dreams and goals for our business, and they are all different – and that’s okay! You define your own success!

There you have it – four business lessons I learned at Disney! The next vacation on my vision board is a month in Italy with my family – imagine what lessons I will bring back from that trip! What marketing or business lessons have you seen from visiting places like Disney? I would love to hear them so leave a comment and let me know.